Multi-roll stand for rolling mills



Oct. 10, 1961 c. VOLKHAUSEN 3,003,373

MULTI-ROLL STAND FOR ROLLING MILLS Filed Aug. 11, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet l /N j 3 Clemens rum/106m Oct. 10, 1961 c. VOLKHAUSEN 3,003,373

MULTI-ROLL STAND FOR ROLLING MILLS Filed Aug. 11, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 15 I I? M \L l WW 5;" ,6 I 49 1 35 i H H 53 J5 g 16' I 1 4 .31! I I? 68 45 .40 L. -i

INVE/W'UP Clemens IOlK/IAUSE/V Oct. 10, 1961 c. VOLKHAUSEN 3,003,373

MULTI-ROLL STAND FOR ROLLING MILLS Filed Aug. 11, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 3

INVENfOP United States Patent 3,003,373 MULTI-ROLL STAND FOR ROLLING MILLS Clemens Volklzausen, Dusseldorf, Germany, assignor to Schloemann Aktiengesellschaft, Dusseldorf, Germany Filed Aug. 11, 1959, Ser. No. 832,986 Claims priority, application Germany Jan. 21, 1953 2 Claims. (Cl. 80-38) This invention relates to metal working and more particularly to a multi-roll stand for rolling mills and this application constitutes a continuation in part of co-pending application Serial No. 404,872, filed January 19, 1954, which issued on October 20, 1959, as Patent No. 2,909,088.

In the rolling of strip material to reduce the thickness thereof it is usually customary to utilize a rolling mill, including a series of multi-roll stands of rolls and in this type of operation it is extremely desirable to maintain the diameters of the working rolls as small as possible in order to reduce the area of contact between the working rolls and the material, since by reducing the area of such contact, the rolling pressure may also be reduced. Obviously, where working rolls of relatively small diameters are to be employed, there is a serious problem of adequately supporting such rolls in order to prevent bending thereof as the result of rolling pressure. In the use of such small diameter working rolls there is also the problem of keeping friction at a minimum and also of properly driving such rolls. If the working rolls are directly driven, the minimum diameter of such rolls which may be utilized is dependent on the torque which must be transmitted by such rolls and for this reason the minimum diameter which may be utilized with directly driven rolls is considerably larger than is desirable for this type of work. Consequently, other means for driving and supporting the working rolls may materially contribute to an improved rolling apparatus.

In the past it has been attempted to solve the problem of supporting driven working rolls by providing nondriven supporting or backing rolls which engage the working rolls substantially over the entire length thereof. Due to the relatively small diameter of the working rolls the anti-friction bearings normally utilized to support Working rolls cannot be employed since this would require a reduction in diameter at the ends of the working rolls which would prevent transmission of the necessary torque and consequently such working rolls have been supported by oflsetting the plane of the axes of the Working rolls with respect to the plane of the axes of the backing rolls and by maintaining the working rolls in such position by engaging the same with supporting rolls carried by cross beams or bridges on the roll stand frame. In the above described arrangement, the minimum diameter of the working rolls was determined by the torque necessary to be transmitted thereby and in many instances, this resulted in the necessity for utilizing Working rolls of a greater diameter than was desirable.

In order to reduce the diameter of the. working rolls without regard to the torque transmitted thereby it has been proposed to drive such working rolls solely by frictional contact with the backing rolls, such backing rolls being directly driven by suitable power means. This manner of driving the working rolls results in the application of relatively large forces to the perpheries of the working rolls and such forces are exerted in a direction substantially parallel to the rolling plane and in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the work being rolled. It has been proposed to ofiset these relatively large forces by providing a number of supporting rolls engaging the working rolls and in some instances, intermediate rolls engaging the working rolls were utilized and in which the intermediate rolls Werejin turn engaged by supporting rolls. In order to properly mount the supporting rolls in a manner which would prevent bending of the working rolls, it has been found necessary to utilize a relatively large number of such supporting rolls journaled in relatively closely spaced bearings and consequently, a relatively large number of parts have been necessary thereby materially increasing the cost of such rolling mills. A further disadvantage of this type of structure is the fact that there is -a critical relationship between the diameters of the working rolls, the intermediate rolls and the supporting rolls and, therefore, grinding of the rolls to provide new Working surfaces is not feasible since the relationship between the diameters would thereby be changed.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a multiroll stand for rolling mills in which the diameter of the working rolls may be maintined at a minimum and in which the relationship between the diameter of the working rolls and the diameters of the intermediate rolls and supporting rollers is not critical.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a multi-roll stand for rolling mills in which the working rolls are driven by frictional engagement with driven backing rolls and in which the supporting rollers may also fn'ctionally engage the backing rolls to be driven thereby and also drive the working rolls through the intermediate rolls.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a multi-roll stand for rolling mills in Which the working rolls are engaged by intermediate rolls which in turn are engaged by supporting rollers, such supporting rollers being movable into or out of engagement With driven backing rolls to drive such supporting rollers, the backing rolls also frictionally engaging the working rolls to drive the same.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a multi-roll stand for rolling mills in which driven backing rolls frictionally engage Working rolls, the working rolls also engaging intermediate rolls which in turn engage sup porting rollers, the intermediate rolls being rotatably mounted on arms which are pivotally and slidably mounted on the axes of the supporting rollers, the working rolls being rotatably and slidably mounted on such arms, the sliding movement of the working rolls and the sliding movement of the arms being longitudinally of such arms.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a multi-roll stand for rolling mills in which the working rolls may be conveniently removed and replaced.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a multi-roll stand for rolling mills in Which driven backing rolls frictionally engage working rolls to drive the same, the axes of such working rolls being offset from the plane of the axes of the backing rolls.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a multi-roll stand for rolling mills in which driven backing rolls frictionally engage working rolls to drive the same, such working rolls engaging intermediate rolls which in turn engage supporting rollers to maintain the working rolls in position, there being pressure applying means engaging the peripheries of the working rolls on the sides away from the backing rolls and the intermediate rolls to maintain the working rolls in engagement with the backing rolls and the intermediate rolls.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction With the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 11 of FIG. 2 and showing the relationship between the backing rolls, the working rolls, the intermediate rolls and the supporting rollers, as well as the manner of mounting such rolls and rollers;

FIG. 2 a sectional view taken substantially on the line 22 of FIG. 1 and showing the engagement of the working rolls with the backing roll, as well as the engagement between the working rolls, the intermediate rolls and the'supporting rolls, together with the mechanism for moving the supporting rollers into and out of engagement with the backing rolls; and

FIG. 3 a sectional View taken substantially on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1 and showing the vertical relationship between the backing rolls and the working rolls, as well asthe supporting and guide structure at the opposite ends of the working rolls.

With continued reference to the drawings, there is shown a multiroll stand constructed in accordance with this invention and which. may well include a frame it? having spaced substantially parallel upright members 11 and 12 connected by cross members 13 and 14 and the frame may be provided with a suitable base 15 for securing the same in place on a supporting surface.

Upright members 11 and 12 of the frame 10 are provided with vertical slots 16 and 17 respectively and slidably mounted in these slots for vertical movement are bearing blocks 18 and 19 which serve to receive antifriction bearings 20 and'21 which in turn rotatably mount an upper backing roll 22. The backing roll 22 may be provided with a cylindrical center section 23 and reduced end portions 24 and 25 received in the antifriction bearings 29 and 21 respectively and one end of the roll 22 may be provided with an extension 26 for coupling the same to a suitable power source. Adjusting screws 27 and 28 may be threadedly received in the upper ends of the upright members 11 and 12 and adjusting screws 27 and 28 may be connected to the bearing blocks 18 and 19 in such a manner that operation of the screws 27 and 28 will serve to raise or lower the upper backing roll 22 in the frame 10.

In a similar manner, bearing blocks 29 and 30 are slidably mounted in the lower portions of the slots 16 and 17 respectively and bearing blocks 29 and 39 receive anti-friction bearings 31 and 32 which serve to rotatably mount a lower backing roll 33.- Lower backing roll 33 is substantially identical with upper backing roll 22 and may be provided with a cylindrical central section 34 and reduced end portions 35 and 36 received in the bearings 31 and 32 respectively and the lower backing roll 33 may also be provided at one end with an extension 37 for coupling the roll to a suitable power source. ing rolls 22 and 33 are driven and such driving power may be derived from a single motor or from separate motors driving each roll. Adjusting screws 38 and 39 are provided on the frame 10 at the lower ends of slots 16 and 17 respectively and such screws 38 and 39 engage the bearing blocks 29 and 30 respectively to raise or lower the same in the slots 16 and 17.

7 Upper and lower cross beams 40 and 41 are mounted on the frame 10 between the upright members 11 and 12 and slidably mounted on the inner sides of cross beams 48 and 41 for vertical movement, are upper and lower carriages 42 and 43 respectively.

Rotatably mounted on the upper carriage 42-are a plurality of spaced supporting rollers 44 and as best shown in FIG. 2, the rollers 44 may be provided with a supporting shaft 45 rotatably carried by spaced ears 46 on the V carriage 42. It is also to be noted, that the shaft 45 pro- In this manner, both the upper and lower backwith a shaft 50 rotatably mounted in the arms 47 with provided with a slot 51 which serves to rotatably and slidably mount the shaft 52 of an upper working roll 53. The upper working roll 53 also frictionally engages the upper backing roll 22.

In order to move the upper carriage 42 vertically and to bring the upper supporting roller 44 into frictional engagement with the upper backing roll 22, a rock shaft 54 is mounted on the upper cross beam 40 and rock shaft 54 is provided with arms 55 pivotally connected at 56 to a piston 57 slidably received in a power cylinder 58 which is pivotally connected at 59 to the upper cross beam 40. Fixed to the rock shaft 54 are lever arms 60 which are pivotally connected at 61 to a link 62 which in turn is pivotally connected at 63 to the upper carriage 42. Operation of the power cylinder 58 will serve to move the rock shaft 54 and the arm 60 connected thereto which in turn will move the upper carriage 42 upward or down by reason of the link 62 connecting the upper carriage 42 and the lever arm 60. This will operate to move the upper supporting roller 44 into frictional engagement with the upper backing roll 22 or disengage the same therefrom.

In a similar manner, lower carriage 43 serves'to rotatably mount a plurality of lower supporting rollers 64 and a lower pair of arms 65 are provided at one end with slots 66 which slidably and pivotally mount the arms 65 on the shaft 67 of the lower supporting rollers 64. A lower intermediate roller 68 is rotatably mounted on the arms 65 in engagement with the lower supporting roller 64. At the ends of the arms 65 opposite to the slot 66 there is provided slots 69 which serve to slidably and rotatably mount a lower working roll 70. Lower working roll 70 engages the intermediate roll 68 and also frictionaily engages the lower backing'roll 33.

A rock shaft 71 in mounted on the lower cross beam 41'and fixed to the rock shaft 71 is an arm 72 which is pivotally connected at 73 to a piston 74 slidably'received in a power cylinder 75 which in turn is pivotally mounted at 76 on the lower cross beam 41. Also fixed to the rock shaft 71 is a lever arm 77 which is pivotally connected at 78 to a link 79 which in turn is pivotally connected at 80 to the lower carriage 42. Consequently, it will be seen that by operation of the power cylinder 75 the rock shaft 71 will be operated to move the lever .arm 77 and link 79 thereby moving the lower carriage 43 vertically to engage the lower supporting roller 64 with the lower backing roll 33 or disengage the same therefrom.

Nith particular reference to FIG. 3 it is to be noted that the shaft 52 of the upper working roll 53 projects outwardly through the arms 47 and that the shaft 81 of the lower working roll 70 projects outwardly through the lower pair of arms 65. The outer ends of shafts 52 and 81 engage common abutment plates 82 and 83 mounted on the upright members 11 and 12 of the frame 10 in order to prevent undesirable endwise movement of the upper and lower working rolls 53 and 70 respectively. Mounted on the shaft 52 outwardly of the upper pair of arms 47 are roller bearings 84 and mounted on the shaft 81 of the lower working roll 70 outwardly of the lower pair of arms 65 are roller bearings 85.

With reference to FIG. 1, the dotted line 86 indicates the plane of the axes of the upper and lower backing rolls 22 and 33 and the dotted line 87 indicates the plane of the axes of the upper and lower working rolls 53 and 70. Clearly the plane of the axes of the working rolls 53 and 70 is offset from the plane of the axes of the backing rolls 22 and 33 toward the cross beams 40 and 41 and While this relative position of the axes of the two sets of rolls above mentioned, may vary slightly by reason of the slidable mounting of the upper and lower working rolls 53 and 70 in the upper and lower pairs of arms 47 and 65 respectively, and also by reason of the slidable mounting of arms 47 and 65 on the axes of the upper and lower supporting rollers 44 and 64, nevertheless, the

upper and lower working rolls 53 and 70 may maintain substantially the same position shown in the drawing and in order to maintain the upper and lower working rolls 53 and 70 in frictional engagement with the upper and lower backing rolls 22 and 33 respectively and also in order to maintain the upper and lower intermediate rolls 49 and 68 in engagement with the upper and lower supporting rollers 44 and 64, pressure applying means in the form of compression springs 88 and 89 are provided with such springs being secured to the upright members 11 and 12 respectively within the slots 16 and 17. The springs 88 and 89 engage push rods 90 and 91 which in turn are provided with wedge members 92 and 93 respectively, such wedge members engaging the peripheries of the roller bearings 84 and 85 on the shafts 52 and 81 respectively of the upper and lower working rolls 53 and 70 and as shown in FIG. 1, the wedge members 92 and 93 engage the roller bearings 84 and 85 on the sides away trom the backing rolls 22 and 33 and the intermediate rolls 49 and 68. Consequently, the wedge members 92 and 93 will operate to urge the working rolls 53 and 70 upwardly and downwardly into engagement with the upper and lower backing rolls 22 and 33 respectively and also will operate to urge the upper and lower working rolls 53 and 70 longitudinally of the upper and lower pairs of arms 47 and 65 into engagement with the upper and lower intermediate rolls 49 and 68 and will also operate to urge the upper and lower pairs of arms 47 and 65, together with the intermediate rolls 49 and 68 carried thereby longitudinally of the arms 47 and 65 to urge the intermediate rolls 49 and 68 into engagement with the upper and lower supporting rollers 44 and 64 respectively. Although springs 88 and 89 have been shown as providing means for yieldably urging the wedge members 92 and 93 into engagement with the roller bearings 84 and 85, obviously, other equivalent yieldable means may be substituted for the compression springs 88 and 89.

It will be seen that by the above described construction, there has been provided a multi-roll stand in which working rolls of minimum diameter may be utilized and furthermore, the drive of such working rolls is accomplished by frictional engagement between the working rolls and the backing rolls and also by frictional engagement between the working rolls and intermediate rolls which in turn engage supporting rollers also frictionally engaging the backing rolls. In this manner, the drive of the working rolls does not depend solely on the frictional engagement between such working rolls and the backing rolls. Furthermore, the particular arrangement of the intermediate rolls and supporting rolls serves to maintain the working rolls in position and prevent undue bending or distortion thereof with the result that superior rolling characteristics are obtained and also the life of the working rolls is materially increased.

Another advantage of the above described structure is the fact that the working rolls may be very conveniently removed for replacement or repair and this is accomplished simply by raising and lowering the upper and lower backing rolls and by releasing the springs 88 and 89 which urge the wedges 92 and 93 into engagement with the roller bearings 84 and 85, after which the upper and lower working rolls 53 and 70 may be conveniently removed from the slots 51 and 69 in the upper and lower pairs of arms 47 and 65 respectively.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing 6 from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawing and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a rolling mill a multi-roll stand comprising a frame including spaced substantially parallel upright members connected by cross members and providing a roll housing, upper and lower power driven backing rolls rotatably mounted in said upright members, upper and lower working rolls mounted in said housing in engagement with said upper and lower backing rolls respectively, said backing rolls frictionally driving said working rolls, the plane of the axes of said working rolls being ofiset from the plane of the axes of said backing rolls, upper and lower cross beams on said frame extending between said upright members on the same sides of the plane of the axes of said backing rolls as the plane of the axes of said working rolls, upper and lower carriages slidably mounted for vertical movement on said upper and lower cross beams respectively, upper and lower supporting rollers rotatably mounted on said upper and lower carriages respectively, an upper intermediate roll disposed between said upper working roll and said upper supporting roller, a lower intermediate roll disposed between said lower working roll and said lower supporting roller, upper and lower power operated means on said upper and lower cross beams connected with said upper and lower carriages respectively to move said upper and lower carriages vertically, said power operated means being operable to move said upper and lower supporting rollers into or out of frictional engagement with said upper and lower backing rolls respectively and means opposing displacement of said working rolls toward the plane of the axes of said backing rolls and for maintaining said upper and lower working rolls in engagement with said upper and lower hacking rolls and said upper and lower intermediate rolls respectively, said last named means including a single common pressure applying means mounted on said frame at each end of said working rolls and each engaging the peripheries of both of said working rolls on the sides away from said backing rolls and said intermediate rolls to provide a component of force toward said backing rolls and a second component of force toward said intermediate rolls.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which the ends of said working rolls are reduced to provide necks, roller bearings mounted on said necks, the roller bearings on said upper working roll being used in the same plane as the roller hearings on said lower working roll, said pressure applying means comprising two common wedges, one wedge engaging the peripheries of the roller bearings on one end of both of said Working rolls and the other wedge engaging the peripheries of the roller bearings on the other end of both of said working rolls, the engagement of said wedges with said roller bearings being on the sides away from said backing rolls and said intermediate rolls and means for yieldably urging said wedges toward said roller bearings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,677,978 Dahlstrom May 1, 1954 2,909,088 Volkhausen Oct. 20, 1959 2,927,489 Tcutsch Mar. 8, 1960 

